


a parent trap (of sorts)

by graysonsstark



Series: how ironman and batman ended up as parents [1]
Category: DCU, Marvel
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Canon is Completely Ignored, Lovers to Separated Parents to Lovers Again, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Parent Bruce Wayne, Parent Tony Stark, Secret Marriage, The kids just want dad and dad back together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2020-04-05 19:39:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19047040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graysonsstark/pseuds/graysonsstark
Summary: The Starks and the Waynes decided to make their legacy a shared one - betrothing their sons to find an excuse to merge their companies, believing they'd complete it long before they're old enough to marry. Death befalls them first.A marriage at 20, faded from the minds of the public after their separation but living on due to their shaded children who want one thing - their dads to get back together.





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't posted literally anything that I've written in years, but here's to changing that!

 

 

"What the fuck was that?" Clint swore, leaping to his feet.

"What was what, birdbrain?" Tony rolled his eyes. Thunder rolled outside and Thor just gave a shrug. "Sit down and watch the movie."

"The storm is not my doing." Thor informed them. "It is completely natural. I assume."

"Not the storm, I heard something." Clint frowned, eyeing the window with unease. "It sounded like something was tapping on the window. Like something wanted to come in."

Several looks were exchanged, glances going to the television where they'd swapped horror for Star Wars after the Sixth Sense, Steve possibly being one of the few people who didn't know the ending.

"I wasn't scared!" Clint scowled, realising what the looks were insinuating.

Tony was distracted, eyes fixed on the window. The view was blurred by the darkness and rain, city lights dimmed.

"Sir, I advise that you check your phone." Jarvis informed him, having paused their film the moment Clint stood up. "And perhaps open a window."

" _Fucksake._ " Tony groaned, standing and crossing to the window. He keyed in the code and it slid smoothly open. "C'mon then kiddo." He called out, ignoring the looks of concern he was receiving from the room.

"What the fuck did you just invite in?" Clint asked, sounding spooked as he looked at Peter. "Because the only one who uses the window for entry is right there."

"Hi Tony." Nightwing was the one who clambered through the window, hair plastered to his forehead and suit dripping wet. He looked smaller than Tony remembered, less confident and less sure in his movements.

"Judging by the state of you, this isn't a social call." Tony sighed, still ignoring his team. "What did you argue about this time?"

"Er, Tony?" Steve spoke up behind him.

"Shit." Dick backed away, suddenly seeming to notice that Tony wasn't alone. "Sorry, I didn't think. I should have waited for you to call."

"Nope, come on Birdie. You left clothes here last time and you need to dry your damn hair." Tony firmly steered Dick towards the elevator before turning his head to address the room. "We'll be back in a minute, you finish watching the film."

"Sorry for intruding." Dick murmured softly once the doors shut.

"The tower is your home just as much as the manor or your apartment is. Or how Malibu was. You know that by now." Tony assured him. "Even when I'm not speaking to B, you know I'd never let that stop me from seeing you."

"I'd hug you but I'm soaking." Dick laughed wetly. He reached up and peeled off his domino now that they were alone and Tony could see the tears in his eyes. He knew not to press, not to push Dick to give him answers before he was ready.

"Maybe in a minute." Tony nodded, ushering him out of the elevator. To the Avengers, it was just another guest floor that they dismissed, but to Tony and his frequent visitors, it was something different. "Also, tell me that you at least biked here."

"Yeah, yeah I did." Dick nodded as Tony guided him towards his room, marked with a blue splash of paint. "But I ditched it in your garage a few blocks away. Didn't need anyone see me coming directly into the tower, there would be all sorts of rumours about why the League is interacting with the Avengers."

"Do you want to shower and warm up or do you just want to dry off and get changed?" Tony offered as he wandered towards the wardrobe. "Hoodie and what? Leggings, jeans, sweatpants?"

"Sweatpants please." Dick shrugged. "I'll just dry off, it's only my hair that's wet and slightly beneath my collar. Thankfully the suit is pretty waterproof, everything has been since we had to go into the sewers the first time when I was Robin and we had to _burn_ that suit."

"Sure thing." Tony nodded, ignoring the anecdote about Dick's run as Robin which he remembered all too well and threw the GCPD hoodie and sweatpants on the bed. "Socks?"

"Please." Dick requested as he struggled out of the suit.

Tony just dug through the drawer until he found a pair of fluffy Ironman socks, throwing them at Dick's head as he pulled the sweatpants on.

"Seriously?" Dick snorted but tugged them on anyway.

"I'm going to guess that you argued?" He asked gently. "Since it is-" he pulled his phone out and checked the date, "-the 12th and usually it would be another two weeks until you'd visit."

"Gordon wants to promote me to homicide detective." Dick sighed, pulling the hoodie over his head. " _Bruce_ on the other hand would rather me stay where I am in the anti-corruption unit because I am literally never _not_ behind a desk."

"It'd be a waste of your talent, something that you must have if the Commissioner himself stole you from Bludhaven and wants to promote you to homicide." Tony sighed. "Bruce was the one who was all for the move, you were the one who was reluctant. He knew that Gordon would want to promote you."

"Unfortunately, that's the argument Gordon tried." Dick sighed. "And also unfortunately for me, Gordon was a homicide detective when B met him and Gordon got hurt a fair bit. B goes on about how Gordon has cleared up the police department, but still mutters about corruption and danger when it comes to anything concerning me."

"Do you want the promotion?" Tony had to ask. He knew the answer, he just needed to hear confirmation before he could truly criticise Bruce.

"I really want it." Dick nodded. "I know how it feels to be the one who needs the detectives to do their jobs and I want to help people in the same position I was."

"Bruce can be an idiot." Tony sighed. "We know that. Stay here a few days, make him think. I'm guessing you have time off otherwise you would have just sulked in one of your safehouses."

"Gordon gave me a week off when B started being stubborn. Told me to think about what I wanted." Dick nodded.

"Right then, let's go introduce you." Tony grinned. "Assuming you're okay with that?"

"Sure." Dick nodded, looking thrilled. It made Tony feel guilty that he hadn't introduced Dick to the team before, especially since they were finally living and working together as a family instead of strangers brought together by circumstance. "Even if I did wear my domino, I think the 'GRAYSON' on the back of my hoodie would be a slight giveaway."

"You have a point." Tony realised as he followed Dick back to the elevator.

 

 

 

 

"You gonna introduce us to your friend?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow as Tony ushered Dick into the spot that Tony had vacated before Tony sat inbetween Dick and Peter.

"I don't think we've met." Natasha was staring at Dick, gaze intense. She could place him from somewhere though where exactly she was not certain.

"This is Dick Grayson." Tony announced. "Short for Richard, but he was eight when we got him and he insisted that he be called Dick. It stuck and he's never wanted to change it."

"Sorry, when you _got_ him?" Steve spluttered.

"He's my eldest son." Tony responded simply before turning to Peter. "Peter, this is your big brother. One of them anyway."

"Hi?" Peter stared at Dick, confusion clear on his face. He then leant closer to Tony and lowered his voice. "I thought you said it was Harley who I would have to meet?"

"Harley is a different one." Tony just shrugged.

"Dick Grayson?" Clint frowned. "Why'd I know that name?"

"He was Bruce Wayne's ward." Natasha answered him, finally placing the face. "Is Bruce Wayne's ward?"

"Tony is my dad too." Dick shrugged.

"We co-parent." Tony responded. "I get the kids whenever Bruce pisses them off, or on the fourth week of the month if they haven't already visited that month. Somehow, your paths haven't crossed yet."

"I think I've visited on the fourth week of the month _twice._ " Dick laughed. "And both those times were due to me being away during the first part of the month."

"You _co-parent_ with _Bruce Wayne_?" Clint raised an eyebrow.

"Which one is Bruce Wayne?" Steve asked, still a little hazy on popular figures.

"He's a CEO or somethin'." Bucky mumbled.

"Gotham." Tony responded, expanding on Bucky's answer. "Batman's territory. He owns Wayne Enterprises. Bruce, not Batman."

"Sorry but, you _co-parent_ with _Bruce Wayne_?" Clint repeated, ignoring Dick's stifled laughter and Tony's angelic expression.

"Of course I do." Tony nodded. "I adore all of my kids, I was pissed that Bruce managed to wrangle the higher custody agreement. Though, Peter, I haven't introduced you yet. I'll speak to May, see if there's a weekend I can take you to Gotham before Bruce finds out you practically live here and gets pissed."

"What?" Peter's eyes widened, taking all of Tony's words in but not processing them.

"Hi Peter." Dick leant past Tony to give Peter a grin. "What he's trying to say is that he's been trying to keep you secret from B, but now I've met you, he has no excuse."

"No excuse?" Peter squeaked.

"We should have realised after Spiderman started to show up in an advanced suit and visited Stark Industries." Dick nodded. "Hey, how old are you?"

"Fifteen?" Peter bit his lip.

"Another middle child, Dami won't be happy. It's me, Jay, Tim and Damian who show up here pretty regularly. The rest are more unpredictable." Dick informed him. "No doubt you'll meet them soon."

"Meet who?" Peter blinked.

"The Family." Dick responded, attention straying to the TV. "Oooh, Empire Strikes Back."

"I'm sorry, can we just go back to how the fuck you ended up _co-parenting_ with _Bruce Wayne?_ " Clint interrupted. "I don't understand, I didn't even know that you knew each other."

"Well, we never really see each other these days. We agreed, I got the West Coast, he got the East Coast. I really pissed him off when I made the move permanently to New York. Not that I had much of a choice about it."

"You did give your address to terrorists on live television." Dick reminded him.

"Not that Bruce cared." Tony pointed out. "Until I gained a kid who he wanted to meet and I had to move into the tower full-time."

"It made it easier for us to see you." Dick pointed out.

"I didn't have to put you on a private jet every month." Tony nodded. "Really cut down on expenses."

"Are you still going to come to the gala next month?" Dick asked, vulnerability flickering in his eyes. "I know that you said that you would, but you don't have to if you don't want to see B."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Tony assured him. "See if I can talk some sense into Bruce."

"Please do." Dick sighed.

"Bruce Wayne!" Clint repeated.

"Yes Clint, Bruce Wayne." Tony nodded. "My husband."


	2. two.

Clint blinked at him.

Dick stifled laughter as the room silenced, all eyes fixed upon Tony, all wide and disbelieving.

"Can you just repeat that for us please?" Steve spluttered.

Tony wiggled his hand with his ring on at them. "This isn't just decorative."

Several of them were looking at the band as if they had never seen it before. It was possible that they hadn't - he rarely wore it on his finger when he had been in the workshop, preferring to keep it safe on a chain beneath his shirt. He'd been stuck in board meetings all day after a gala the night before, meaning he hadn't removed it from where eagle eyed reporters executed to see it.

"I don't remember seeing it in your file." Natasha commented, frowning. "When did you get married?"

"I was twenty, nearly twenty-one and B had barely turned twenty-two. He'd been on the missing list for four years, which is the only reason we didn't get married sooner." Tony wrinkled his nose at the memory. "Neither of us were particularly happy about it."

"Why did you get married if you didn't want to?" Steve asked, sounding confused.

"My parents died when I was four and B's died when he was nine. We knew each other, of course we knew each other, our fathers went to the same boarding school and college together. They were talking about merging the companies and joked that the perfect way to do it would for us to get married. They had intended to take the marriage proposals from their wills when they completed the merger, but they both passed away before they did. We didn't think we'd have to go through with it, but Obie and some of the board members from both companies forced it through, said we'd be locked out of the companies until we agreed."

"What?" Clint asked weakly.

"Biggest kicker - we still haven't merged." Tony winced.

"I'm beginning to remember it now." Natasha nodded.

"So we had a big white wedding and tried to make it work at first; and while it did for a few months, I got fed up of B disappearing from our bed and coming back and not wanting to explain where he'd been or what he was doing." Tony continued to reminisce. "I was convinced he was cheating on me, but it didn't explain the bruises so I didn't want to accuse him of anything."

"I can think of plenty of reasons that cheating could result in bruises." Clint leered.

"Tell me you've invented brain bleach, _please._ " Dick groaned, shaking his head. "I really don't need that mental image."

"How did you end up with him?" Sam asked, gesturing to Dick. "He's too old to be one of yours."

"I was the first kid they adopted." Dick answered. "I was eight."

"We brought Dick home the night he lost his parents and I thought it was going to make things better. Then Dick started coming down for breakfast tired and bruised and it was the final straw." He wrapped an arm around his eldest son's shoulders, Dick willingly melting into his side. "When he told me that B wouldn't let him tell me, I decided to file for divorce. The Boards of both companies were livid and said if we divorced, we'd never step foot in our Headquarters again. We stayed together, but I moved to Malibu and B stayed in Gotham. Agreed to have an open marriage. I'd get Dick every fourth week, and then when more kids came into the mix, I'd get them too."

"An open marriage?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

"I had no intention of being anything but faithful to B, but he wasted no time moving on." Tony winced. "I tried to make him jealous but I just upset myself and he called me a slut. We try to be civil for the kids."

"They've never hidden anything from me though." Dick admitted softly. "They tell me everything." He looked around the room and considered the crowd before obviously coming to a decision. "Which is why I told Tony that B was Batman as soon as he left."

There was an immediate uproar, all mouths moving.

"Holy shit, Bruce fucking Wayne is Batman?" Clint squawked.

"Clint, SHIELD had a file on him." Natasha deadpanned.

"I didn't want to ruin the mystery, I wanted to guess!" Clint whined.

"The Man of Bats is married to you?" Thor arched an eyebrow at Tony. "A formidable pair if you were to do battle together."

"Yeah." Tony winced again. "Yeah, we've never fought together. My announcement of being Iron Man was mainly a 'fuck-you' to him because he didn't even call when I returned from Afghanistan."

"He didn't?" Steve frowned.

"If Wayne is Batman..." Clint stared at Dick. "Then you were Robin."

"Nightwing now. Obviously, you saw me climb in the window in my suit." Dick nodded. "My baby brother is Robin now."

"There's been several of you, correct?" Natasha asked.

"Me, Jay, Tim and now Damian." Dick nodded. "Steph has made small outings here and there, but the mantle has passed down the four of us really. I outgrew it, Jay... Jay had an accident, Tim put himself in the role and then Damian declared it his right."

"I nearly killed Bruce when he called me to tell me about Jason." Tony recalled.

"I nearly killed him when he told me that he'd just called." Dick nodded. 

"Jason was the one who rose from the dead, correct?" Natasha asked.

"What?" Steve's eyes widened.

"We never hear the end to the jokes." Dick groaned. He gave Peter a smile. "Whatever you do, don't laugh at them or he'll think he's funny and he'll just tell you more."

"I don't know how we didn't know this." Clint whistled suddenly. "Tony, married?"

"Yeah Clint, married." Tony echoed dully. "And I'm really happy."

 

 

After that, it was decided it would be best to retire and leave further discussion to the morning. Though he hadn't been in the lab since the previous afternoon and hadn't had to pilot the suit since a minor altercation at the weekend, Tony felt exhausted.

He still headed to the lab anyway.

"He still wears his too, you know." Dick informed him, having snuck into the lab behind him after announcing he was heading for bed and witnessing him slide his ring off in order to place it around his neck instead. Peter trailed after him, looking both fascinated and confused.

"I'm aware, I regularly get asked for a comment from Buzzfeed when they run their annual 'here's every time Bruce Wayne wore his wedding ring this year' article, and I can imagine Bruce gets asked for comment too whenever they run their one about me." Tony snorted.

"Hey, Mr. Stark, you do realise it's like a massive conspiracy theory online, right?" Peter informed him shyly. "There's like Tumblr blogs with 'proof' that the two of you are secretly married, everyone thinks all of the articles and stuff were faked."

"Tim runs one of them." Dick was gleeful. "Pretty sure it's called 'wark4lyfe' or something equally ridiculous."

"So people genuinely don't believe we're married?" Tony asked.

Dick hopped up to sit on one of the workbenches and shrugged at him. "I don't know what else to say other than you don't exactly speak about it anymore, either of you. If it had happened in 2015 instead of 2005, it would have been everywhere. I think Fox still refers to you as 'bro buds' if it's ever brought up."

"Things make so much more sense now." Peter nodded. "I didn't think it was true, I just thought that people edited your wiki that much that people stopped bothering to change it back."

 "Sir?" Jarvis interrupted. "Incoming call from Bruce Wayne."

 


	3. three.

Dick looked at Tony with wide eyes. "I'm not here." He rushed out.

"Put him through, J." Tony stated, just nodding at Dick to signal his understanding.

"Tony?" Bruce sounded mildly surprised that he had answered.

"Bruce." Tony greeted. "This is a surprise, what can I do for you?"

"I didn't expect to get this far." Bruce responded, honestly sounding caught off-guard. Tony couldn't help but smile. There weren't many things that could catch his husband unawares and on a slightly petty way, it felt good to know that Tony was still one of them.

"I figured it was important, you never call." Tony couldn't resist the dig.

"It's late, I thought you'd be sleeping." Bruce admitted.

"So you called hoping that I wouldn't pick up so you could lord it over me and tell the kids that I obviously don't care about any of them otherwise I'd pick up?" Tony heard the statement for what it was. "Which one?"

"What?" Bruce couldn't even disguise how thrown he sounded.

"Which kid are you calling about?" Tony asked. "You certainly didn't ring me for a chat."

"Is Dick there?" Bruce asked.

"No, should he be?" Tony winked at Dick. "Is he okay?"

"We had a slight disagreement and he's yet to return home." Bruce spoke as if it pained him to admit. Tony k new that the entire phonecall was likely painful for the man on the other end. He never liked to show weakness and here he was, admitting to Tony that he'd had a disagreement with their eldest. Usually Tony only found out after they happened from Dick, not from a phonecall with Bruce.

"Oh?" Tony raised an eyebrow at Dick who was mouthing 'slight' with a stunned expression. "Have you asked Babs, Gordon, his friends?"

"Do you think that I would skip that step before asking you?" Bruce scoffed. "Nobody has seen him, Jason didn't pick up. I believe he's with him if he is not with you."

"You've lost Jason too?" Tony snorted, unable to help himself. "Honestly B, can't you keep track of a few kids?"

"I can do that just fine." Bruce responded through gritted teeth. "Call me if either of them show up."

He hung up before Tony could reply.

"Man, he sounds pissed." Jason drawled.

"Jay!" Dick was the first one to register the newest arrival as he sauntered further into the lab, having moved from his position lounging against the doorframe.

"Hey, kiddo." Tony smiled, secretly relieved that Bruce had not in fact lost Jason and instead Jason had lost Bruce.

"Hi." Peter waved, obviously unsure what else to do.

"You must be Tony's secret kid." Jason grinned, walking over to shake Peter's hand. "I see you've met Birdie."

"I told you to stop calling me that." Dick poked Jason with his foot. 

"You prefer Goldie?" Jason arched a brow before turning his attention back to Peter. "I'm Jason, Birdie here calls me Jay. You pick."

"Peter." Peter gestured to himself awkwardly. "Peter Parker."

"Nice to finally meet you, Peter." Jason addressed him, but the 'finally' was clearly aimed at Tony.

"I didn't want to scare him off, can you blame me?" Tony rolled his eyes. "I didn't want a repeat of what happened with Harley."

"What happened with Harley?" Peter's eyes were wide. Tony felt bad for not warning him in advance. He wasn't particularly bothered about the opinions of the rest of the Avengers, but he was bothered about Peter.

"Bruce took a private jet to Tennessee and showed up on his doorstep, us lot in tow." Jason informed him gleefully. "Think we scared the shit out of the kid but he still shot Bruce with that damn potato gun."

"Which you recorded and posted all over social media." Dick reminded Jason.

"I knew it was going to be gold the second I saw the gun." Jason cackled, pulling his phone from his pocket. "Give me a sec, I'll find the video."

"How many of you did you say there was?" Peter asked faintly. Tony could tell the kid was getting overwhelmed by Dick and Jason's unquestioning friendship and acceptance that he was just going to be another feature in their lives and he let himself imagine, just for a moment, flying into Midtown just to scare some of the idiots Peter went to school with half to death.

"We'll introduce you to Tim next." Dick gave him a gentle smile. "I promise you'll like him more than Jay. You're about the same age and I think you'll have similar interests if Star Wars was your pick earlier."

"Oi, I'm perfectly likeable." Jason glared at Dick before giving Peter a grin. "He's probably telling the truth, to be fair. You'll like Harley too."

"I'll walk you to your room and tell you about everyone a bit more." Dick offered, throwing Tony a wink behind Peter's back. "Let Jay help dad put all of his toys away. He knows more about this kind of stuff than me."

"First time you've actually called me dad all evening, kiddo, thought I'd done something to upset you." Tony teased playfully.

"This is why I'm the superior child." Jason childishly stuck his tongue out at Dick and Tony's smile only widened. He hated seeing his children being too old, too world weary for their ages.

"You say that and you haven't even given your old man a hug." Tony "Let alone a 'hello', too distracted by teasing your brothers."

"You're hardly an old man, dad." Jason rolled his eyes and let himself be manhandled into a hug. Tony knew the pout on his face was fake, knew that as much as Jason postured and posed, groaned and moaned about being affectionate with his family, he loved it. 

Despite the fact that he now dwarfed Tony, Jason was always the second easiest to coerce into a hug. With Dick it was easy, he just had to open his arms and his eldest fell straight into them. Damian was the worst, insistent that he was too grown up to need a hug from either father, though he still insisted on calling Tony 'father's lover' after a memorable incident when the youngest Stark-Wayne had sleepily called Tony 'dad' and had been mortified when Tim had gleefully played the tape back. After all, he did still insist on calling Bruce 'father'. He squirmed and wriggled whenever Tony managed to wrangle a hug from him, while Tim was known to stand there and awkwardly pat the back of whoever was holding him.

"Night Mister Stark, Jason." Peter gave them a painfully awkward wave when they parted.

"He still calls you Mister Stark?" Jason snorted. 

"I used to tell him to call me Tony every time but I've just given up." Tony admitted, smiling at Peter reassuringly. "One day, right Pete?"

"Sure thing Mist- Tony." Peter corrected himself and looked mildly terrified the entire time.

After Dick had talked Peter into the elevator, the doors closing behind them, Jason looked at Tony with a serious expression. "What have they argued about now?"

"He hasn't said?" Tony asked, surprised.

"He rang and said they'd argued and that he was coming here." Jason shrugged. "That was it."

"Gordon wants to promote him. Homicide detective." Tony informed him, knowing that Dick would be back in a few moments anyway. "Bruce isn't very happy about it, wants him to stay in the anti-corruption unit where he's always behind a desk."

"Grayson wasn't telling the whole truth."

"Jesus Christ, Damian!" Tony yelped, instinctively clutching his chest. He was suddenly very glad his heart was no longer reliant on the arc reactor because he was half convinced that the shock would have caused it to short out, though scientifically he knew it would not. "Clint belongs in the vents, you do not."

"Sorry." Damian didn't particularly sound very sorry at all from where he had just dropped onto the lab bench from the ceiling above.

"J, you're supposed to warn me when the Kid Counter goes up." Tony sighed.

"Apologies Sir." Jarvis sounded as sorry as Damian. "Another one of your children has entered the building."

"Hi kiddo." Tony gave Damian a tentative smile, trying not to laugh at the fact his youngest was basically dressed as a ninja. "Does your father know you're here?"

"He does not need to be privy to my whereabouts." Damian responded loftily.

"J, call B." Tony sighed. "He'll murder me if I don't tell him I at least have you," he warned Damian when he saw the thunderous look take over his youngest's face.

"Fine." Damian scowled. "Please inform him that all attempts to take me back to the manor will result in me coming immediately back here until he ceases to be an idiot."

"Dami, what have I told you about calling your father an idiot?" Tony groaned.

"Call connecting." Jarvis warned.

"Tony?" Bruce answered immediately.

"Tell me, are you utterly incapable of keeping count of our kids?" Tony couldn't help but tease, feeling like he finally had one over his husband.

"Are they there?" Bruce asked.

"Be specific." Tony responded. "Is who here?"

"Dick and Jason, are they there?" Bruce sounded as if Tony was pulling his teeth.

"No." Tony answered.

"So why did you call?" Bruce snarled.

"When did Damian announce that he wanted an early night?" Tony asked.

Muffled swearwords sounded from across the line, along with running footsteps and slamming doors.

"He's safe." Tony informed Bruce, taking pity. "Nearly gave me a heart attack when he dropped out of the vents into my lab, but other than that, he's fine."

"Why are you in the lab, it's late?" Bruce asked, sounding unmistakably soft for a moment.

"Careful B, it may sound like you care." Tony pointed out.

"Of course I-" Bruce stopped himself and exhaled. "Look, can you bring him home in the morning or do you want me to come and get him?"

"Hate to tell you this B, but I'm under strict instruction to tell you that he doesn't want to return to the manor." Tony winced. "He won't tell me why, something about you being an idiot? Which, I'm doing the good parenting thing and telling him not to call his dad an idiot."

"You're dad, I'm father." Bruce grumbled, honestly sounding put out by the fact.

"No, he called me dad once and ever since he's been too mortified to call me anything but 'father's lover', which is going to get me some very funny looks from the team at breakfast." Tony couldn't help but laugh.

"Tell me if he threatens to fight Captain America?" Bruce requested.

"Of course." Tony responded. "Should I expect Tim too, or is he at least in his room? I know not to expect him to be asleep at this time."

"I'll go and check." Bruce sighed. "I'll message you. Goodnight Tony. Go to bed."

"Night B." Tony answered. "You too."

Jarvis cancelled the call for him and he turned to find both Jason and Damian looking mildly stunned.

"You want to tell me what that was?" Jason asked. "Because that did not sound like two people who hate each other's guts, let alone the two people I heard arguing before."

"We can be civil." Tony protested.

"What have we missed?" Dick asked and Tony was utterly unsurprised to find that Tim followed him into the room, right as his phone vibrated with a message from Bruce.

"Scariest phone call ever between T and B." Jason shuddered.

"Can we forget that for a moment please while someone tells me exactly what is going on?" Tony raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

The four exchanged uneasy glances and he knew he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.

 


	4. four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken so long!! Hoping to get a few more chapters ready and up as soon as possible. Literally having so much fun writing this, it's bringing back my passion for writing.

 

 

"Well?" Tony asked, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow before promptly realising that he should inform Bruce that yet another of their children had deserted the manor and had just followed their eldest out of the elevator. And Tony realised that Jarvis had likely meant Tim earlier when referring to the Kid Counter.

_The Husband: Tim isn't here._

Tony held a finger up, signalling for them to wait as he replied to Bruce's message.

**He's just walked into my workshop, I'll see if he can be convinced to return. If not, I'll return him when I return Dami**

_Tell Dick and Jason to stay safe._

He made the executive decision to not tell the aforementioned pair that their father knew without a doubt where they were.

"Right, okay. Spill." He commanded.

"Dad..." Dick exchanged a guilty look with Jason.

"I'm going to guess that you didn't know this lot were going to show?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I would have warned you if I knew." Dick admitted. "I know how much you hate having to speak to B unexpectedly."

"Really?" Jason snorted. "Could have fooled me with that call."

"We get along on occasion. Of course we do, we were friends before we got married." Tony reminded them. He couldn't help but be wistful for the time when he could call Bruce and have an easy conversation with him, when they'd laughed at the prospect of their possible nuptials and were friends anyway. They'd been nigh on inseparable during their early years, attending the same boarding schools like their fathers before them until Tony went to MIT at fourteen, leaving Bruce behind when they had always thought that it would Bruce leaving first. They'd stayed in touch the best they could until Bruce just vanished. And Tony, much like the rest of the world, had presumed the worst.

"Well forgive me for not remembering a time before the two of you were constantly at each other's throats." Jason snorted.

"We never wanted you to see that." Tony shook his head.

"Jay, they really did love each other." Dick spoke up in his defence.

"That's easy for you to say, Dickhead, you got adopted before they called it quits but still had to play nice for the cameras and the kids." Jason snapped back. Tony could see this escalating into a fully fledged argument.

"Well at least you never had to question whether or not you were the reason they broke up!" Dick yelled before looking shocked at his own outburst in the sudden deafening silence.

Tony flinched back before moving forward to wrap Dick in a hug. His eldest went pliant, shaking slightly in Tony's arms. "Kiddo, you were never the reason why." He comforted, rubbing Dick's back.

"Shit, Dick." Jason swore softly. He gave his brother a sheepish smile when Tony and Dick parted, apology written on his face. "I never realised that you thought that."

"They split up because B wouldn't tell him how I had broken a rib, of course I thought it was my fault." Dick admitted. "I thought T knew about B and me and just didn't like to talk about it, it was when I overheard them arguing over me that I realised that B was lying when he told me that dad knew. He swore that there were no secrets, which is why I told dad. B said no secrets, I ensured that was truth. I also couldn't help but hope that they'd reconcile afterwards."

"Why did you never tell me?" Tony asked, looking devastated. "Not about you and B, that you thought it was because of you?"

"I didn't understand what else it could have been." Dick shook his head. "I thought you were happy. I didn't want confirmation."

"We didn't want you to see us unhappy." Tony shook his head. "But we kept arguing and it was always about where the hell Bruce disappeared at night. Honestly, I thought he was cheating on me."

"We've never really spoken about this." Tim spoke up. "Bruce refuses to answer questions and we don't ask you because we know that it upsets you."

"Technically he has cheated on you, multiple times." Damian looked repulsed. "Including the instance of my creation. You are still married, are you not?"

"We'd be divorced if our Boards would agree." Tony's shoulders slumped. "And if we're playing by that rule, I've cheated on him too."

"He was a fool for not telling you." Damian gave him a tiny smile before schooling his features once more.

"What would you do if divorce became an option?" Jason asked and Tony almost didn't notice the subtle elbow to the side from Tim. Almost.

"Both Boards of Directors have agreed that divorce will never be an option." Tony shrugged, answering the question but pondering why it was asked. "It's a term included in all contracts between the companies. We divorce, those contracts break, and the stock market becomes a battleground."

"What would you do if you ever found someone you wanted to marry though?" Tim pressed.

"Tim, I don't know what you're angling at here but I'm tired and we've all had long days." Tony shook his head. "You can tell me whatever bad news you have in the morning, but right now I think we should all head to bed."

 

 

 

He heard the chaos before he even reached the kitchen that morning.

"-ay the fuck away from my waffles, Dickhead, you burn them by breathing on them." Jason snarled as Tony stepped into the room to see carnage.

Jason's white streak was barely distinguishable from the streaks of flour in his hair, presumably waffle batter smeared on his face and his Ironman apron. Dick was contorting as an angle that anyone else would find painful to lick the batter from his elbow while attempting to poke at the waffle iron with a spatula. Damian was sat on the counter, not a speck of flour on his clothing despite the dusting that surrounded him. Tim was asleep, flour caking the half of his face that he had resting on the counter, a cloud rising and falling again each time he breathed.

"I can cook, dumbass, I live by myself!" Dick argued.

"Yeah, on an open fire and in a microwave." Jason slapped his hand away from the waffle mix. "Stop trying to fucking eat the raw mix, do you ever wonder why you're sick constantly?"

"Alfie said I can cook!" Dick whacked Jason back with the spatula. "I made that roast last weekend."

"Morning all." Tony murmured, ignoring the bickering and making a beeline to the coffee machine.

"There's more of them." Steve sounded horrified as Tony sat at the table with his fellow Avengers who were watching the scene play out with morbid curiosity.

"Have they introduced themselves yet?" Tony asked after a healthy sip of coffee.

"Not yet." Peter answered, sounding torn between running screaming for the hills and joining in the carnage.

"Oi, Bat pack!" Tony yelled.

"Did you just call them a brat pack?" Clint asked, frowning and poking at his ear.

"That works too." Tony shrugged.

"Yes?" Dick gave him an angelic smile, ruined by the fact Jason was trying to catch him in a headlock.

"Introduce yourselves would you?" Tony asked. "Otherwise my team will think you're both feral and unnamed instead of just feral."

Introductions were made swiftly, Damian leaning and grabbing the spatula from Dick to whack Tim before handing it back.

"M'Tim." Tim announced before returning his head to his floury pillow.

"Tim doesn't do mornings." Dick informed them, having extracted himself from Jason and joined them at the table. "You're lucky we dragged him out of bed."

"Are you going to be the bearer of bad news then?" Tony asked.

Dick's face twisted into something uncomfortable. "I don't actually know what they're talking about." He confessed. "I know B is up to something, I just don't know what. I've been avoiding the manor recently with the whole job debate."

"They didn't tell you last night?" Tony asked.

"Couldn't have a super-secret-sibling-summit without Peter there." Dick shrugged. "So, Peter, super-secret-sibling-summit after breakfast? We'll conference call the others in."

"Sure?" Peter nodded.

"Sir, you may want to turn on the news." Jarvis informed him.

Tony pulled his phone from his pocket and projected the news onto the wall, going pale at the footage.

"Why haven't we been called in?" Steve asked, watching in horror as Metropolis was swarmed - the creatures indistinguishable from the height of the helicopter recording.

_'The Justice League have arrived on scene'_ was the rolling banner at the bottom of the screen and Tony's heart dropped.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love and validate me, please?


	5. five.

"What do you mean, we aren't going?" Tony asked, gesturing wildly to the screen that was displaying the battle live and therefore providing a live visual of the Justice League being thrown around as if they were ragdolls. He could see Dick's pale face in his peripheral, slightly surprising him as the eldest of his kids had been doing his best to distract the others down in his lab where he had sent them before he started arguing with Steve. "We might not speak much, but that's still my husband getting the shit beaten out of him, Steve."

"Fury won't sanction it." Steve shook his head. "If the Justice League weren't already on-scene, we'd be heading there but we don't have the same agreement with them that we do with the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, we can't turn up without invitation."

"Since when do you care about superhero jurisdiction?" Tony scoffed. "What if I get us invited, can we go then? Or is a text from my husband not formal enough?"

"I don't think he'll be in the position to text." Steve grimaced and shook his head as they both watched Superman be forcefully thrown at Batman, both of them going down with no sign they were going to stand for a few tense moments.

**Tell me that we can come and assist. Say you give permission for the Avengers to join you.**

"Dick?" Tony ignored Steve after quickly sending the message with no hope Bruce would read it. "I thought you were making sure Tim didn't set my computers on fire in the lab."

"Yeah, I was." Dick nodded, attention more on the screen than on Tony. "I thought you were going to help?"

"We can't go without an invite from the Justice League." Tony groaned. "Steve is being a bureaucrat for once."

Dick regarded him with a strange look before letting out a small bark of laughter. "Dad..."

"Why are you looking at me like that, kiddo?" Tony frowned. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Who am I, dad?" Dick asked.

"My son." Tony responded instantly.

"Yes, you are." Dick nodded. "But who else am I?"

"Nightwing?" Tony tested.

"Yes." Dick nodded. "Dad... Tell me, what superhero group did I become affiliated with after the Teen Titans."

It suddenly dawned on Tony that he was looking at a member of the Justice League.

 

 

 

"B is going to kill me for not leaving you at home." Tony admitted the moment Jarvis announced the comms were live. He was flying side by side with the Quinjet, with Rhodey, Thor and Sam all also relegated to flying with the extra space being taken up by all of Tony's kids, each one adamant that they weren't being left behind.

"In fairness to you, B didn't know that me and Dickhead were at yours and you couldn't exactly leave the minors unattended without looking like a bad parent." Jason responded cheerfully.

"I can't believe that you insist we wear communication devices." Damian sniffed. "Father never does."

"I know damn well that your father makes you wear comms, Damian, now is not the time to try and play me and Bruce against each other." Tony reminded him and wished that he could pinch the bridge of his nose. 

"I'm just saying that you insist we do." Damian responded. "Father just expects it."

"In a twisted way Damian is trying to say that it's nice that you care about being able to talk to us." Jason interpreted and Tony promptly heard a sound akin to that of someone having the wind knocked out of them.

"J, switch the the main channel." Tony sighed. "Cap?"

"They're fighting, what do we do?" Steve sounded scared.

"Grab the small one." Tony really wanted to pinch his nose like a tired dad. He was a tired dad. "You should probably do it, he's a bit slippery."

"He's tiny though." Steve answered. "How much damage-"

Tony was pretty certain that Steve just took a punch from a ten year old.

"Sir, you have a new message from _The Husband_." Jarvis informed him.

"Flash it up, J." Tony asked and the message appeared on the HUD.

_No._

"J, send a message back for me." Tony suddenly felt angry. "Say that our kid is fighting Captain America and I'm not being that dad that turns the jet around when the kids start fighting the relatives. And that we've already got authorisation from my favourite Bat in the League, he can just piss off."

"We're five minutes out, can I put Damian down now?" Steve asked tentatively.

"Absolutely not, give it another four and a half." Tony responded. "See you the street, Go Wildcats!"

He shut his comms off before Steve could shout at him, zooming ahead and almost colliding with Superman.

"Ironman?" Superman yelled, looking exhausted but still gestured to the nearest rooftop.

"Nightwing invited us." Tony informed him when they both landed, his helmet receding with a thought so he could speak to the hero properly.

Superman's shoulders slumped slightly in relief. "Thank god someone had the sense to."

"What's happening?" Tony asked, keeping an eye on the sky as the Quinjet grew on the horizon.

"Luthor has made sentient lizard robots." Superman winced as something exploded across town. "You have to rip their cores out to permanently kill them, otherwise they just repair themselves and carry on trying to eat your face."

"EMP not knock them out?" Tony asked.

"We tried." Superman shook his head. "Did you bring the full team?"

"Yep." Tony nodded. "Need me to put in a call to the Four or the Prof? Storm would be good for burning out the cores and I'm pretty sure Magneto has decided he likes Charles this week."

"I don't know if they'd get here in time." Superman shook his head. "Thanks for the assist, meet us at the Watchtower after the battle?"

 

 

 

"What idiot thought this was a good idea?" Clint hissed as they arrived in the Watchtower.

"Apparently SHIELD can't say no to Superman." Steve muttered.

Tony didn't want to correct him and admit that he was the one who had accepted the invite. Sue him, he was curious about his husband's teammates and he also needed to inconspicuously steal all of his kids back since they'd reluctantly trailed after a fuming Batman.

"Avengers." Wonder Woman greeted them with a smile as she entered the room. "We're all in the largest conference room, just follow me."

"Thank you, Princess." Thor gave her an equally warm smile.

"Diana." She corrected. "I am not on Themyscira now."

"Have you met before?" Tony couldn't help but ask.

"Nay, but we have heard of one another." Thor answered.

"How is the brother these days?" Diana asked. "I only hear the rumours from the pantheon and Zeus has been close-lipped on Norse matters after New York."

"Loki is usually on the team these days." Thor brightened. "After faking his death and finding a rather bizarre sugar daddy, he came back to Earth and we're trying to do a new 'family' thing."

Tony almost choked due to Thor's description of the Grandmaster.

"That's better than attempting to take over the planet again." Diana commented mildly. "This way."

They followed her into the conference room.

"Thank you for coming." Superman greeted. "Both now and earlier. I think we can safely say we'd be screwed if Nightwing hadn't called you in."

"You called them?" Bruce fixed Dick with a glare. "You know I didn't want-"

"It's a good thing he called you." Diana cut in hastily. "We honestly debated contacting you when the call came in but nobody really knew who to contact. It's a good thing Nightwing rang- Wait... How did Nightwing ring you?"

"They think I swiped your number from B's directory." Dick's smile was tired but bright. "And apparently that isn't very official." 

"Kiddo, you would have come to Malibu to get my number myself if you didn't have it. Or scaled the tower if I changed it and didn't tell you." Tony took a moment to smile back at his eldest.

"You two know each other?" Superman glanced between them, looking rather shocked.

"Has _everyone_ forgotten?" Tony raised an eyebrow at Superman. "I thought you'd know at least, from working at the Planet. I get most of my team somehow not knowing, Tasha and Clint were on assignments, Thor wasn't exactly in touch with Earth affairs and Steve was kind of frozen-"

"Tony." Batman growled in warning.

"Sorry, did you just say that I work at the Planet?" Superman looked stunned.

"It was so long ago, sometimes I forget." Dick reminded him softly.

"You know where I work?" Superman repeated.

"I don't." Clint volunteered.

"I hacked B's private servers in the Batcave when I was pissed off with him and he was looking to form the League." Tony admitted fearlessly. "Kept you all off SHIELD's radar for as long as possible."

"Thank you?" Superman, Clark, looked stunned.

"I was in Afghanistan when the incident with Zod happened." Tony grimaced. "Then I was too busy dying to intervene when Bats went berserk."

"What could you have done to stop me?" Batman grumbled.

"Oh honey, you never stand a chance against me." Tony sighed.

"A word." Batman snarled.

"You can have one." Tony sniped. "No."

"Stark." Batman hissed.

"Wayne." Tony glared at him. "I thought we agreed to be civil?"

"That was before you brought the kids to battle." Bruce snarled as he pulled off his cowl, ignoring the gasps from his teammates.

"Hypocrite." Tony snapped back. "You're the one who trained them to be heroes."

"I came with pre-existing acrobat skills and Damian was trained by assassins." Dick piped up.

"Not the point, kiddo." Tony shook his head.

The League members were looking back and forth, as if watching a tennis match. And, to be fair to them, so were the Avengers.

"Do you two need some privacy?" Clark asked before Bruce could respond.

"Finally remembered?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

"I do sports, not gossip." Clark admitted sheepishly. "Took me a minute there, I must admit."

"We don't know." Barry raised a hand.

"Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne, wedding of the century." Oliver elbowed The Flash so he would take his hand down. "They're the kids," he gestured to the Baby Bat squad that had grown slightly in size and had also grabbed Peter. "Although Spiderman is a new addition by Stark."

"Hi Ollie." Tony nodded at the other man. He hadn't seen him since Monaco, when he'd only been able to wave at him across the room when he'd been tailed by Justin Hammer.

"Hi Tee." Oliver waved back. "Didn't think I'd ever see you in the same room again."

"Stark Industries and Wayne Enterprises are co-hosting a gala that you're invited to next week, what did you think we'd do - rent out two ballrooms and stay to our assigned one?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Oliver nodded.

" _Tony._ " Bruce growled.

"You can't get mad at me, you brought Steph, Cass and Duke along." Tony gestured to the group of kids.

"And you brought Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian _and_ Peter!" Bruce argued. "I've not even met Peter yet."

"Give us a minute?" Tony asked their respective teams.

When they had deserted the room, leaving only Tony and Bruce with the kids, Tony tapped the reactor so the armour would retreat back into storage and fixed Bruce with a sad smile.

"Look at us B, we can't even congratulate each other on a job well done without arguing." He sighed. "We were being civil last night, we managed to speak to each other and have a normal conversation. What happened?"

Bruce sighed and pulled off his gloves that were dripping with oil and lizard goo, setting them on the table. Tony's eyes went instantly to the silver ring on Bruce's finger.

Then he looked down at his own. To the untrained eye the platinum on his finger would match the silver on Bruce's but Tony had spent hours looking at his own ring and far too many hours looking at 'all the times that Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark wore their wedding rings this year' articles.

That wasn't their ring on Bruce's finger.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> love and appreciation is always appreciated! Thanks to all of those who are still reading, commenting and kudosing x


	6. six.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> figured I couldn't leave you hanging on that for too long!

Tony couldn't stop the thoughts flying through his head in that moment. He hoped that he was mistaken, that it was just the lighting that was skewing his perspective. But he knew, deep down, that this was reality. Even after years of separation, Bruce was still supposed to be _his_ husband. Bruce was supposed to be his constant, even if the one thing standing between them and divorce was their respective company boards and the reaction that their kids would have if their last tie to each other was severed.

It seemed that Tony's reality was crashing down around him and that last tie was being severed with no build up, no warning beforehand.

"Dad?" Dick's concerned tone broke him from his reverie. 

"Yeah, kiddo?" Tony forced a smile on his face despite feeling like he still had the arc reactor in his chest, a crushing and heavy weight that seemed to be stealing capacity from his lungs as it dragged him down.

"B just spoke to you and you didn't react." Dick stepped towards him, the concern in his voice also written all over his face. "You look like you've seen a ghost, are you okay?"

"Reality is just imploding and I'm fearing the calls I'm going to have to field from my board when they catch wind of it." Tony winced. "How about we just call the rest of our teams in, finish off the slapping of the backs and congratulations and then we can all go home? I've got some urgent lab work that needs to be done, I've just remembered. Pep is going to have my ass."

"You told me that you were project free." Dick accused, raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"You know, don't you?" Damian asked, expression serious and regretful.

"The gala is next week. The gala that we are co-hosting." Tony addressed Bruce. "Will you be attending with the person who has the matching ring to the one on your finger and shall I have a statement prepared?"

Remorse covered Bruce's face for a split second before he regained his neutrality. "I will be attending with her, yes. Apologies, I didn't think before I removed my gloves."

"It would have been nice to have some warning." Tony snarked back. "I would have bought you some flowers and a nice 'congrats on your engagement' card with a little more notice. It is an engagement ring, right? You didn't forge my signature on divorce papers and forget to tell me?"

"They'll be sent over in a few weeks, I just need to finalise my case to present to the board." Bruce nodded. "Selina likes lilies."

That was a kick to the chest.

"I'll have some nettles wrapped in ivy sent over." Tony gave Bruce a sunny smile. 

Of all the names he wanted to hear come from Bruce's lips, that was bottom of the list. Their actual relationship had been covered by the cloud that was Selina's existence, images of Bruce and Selina published in the weeks after their separation leading to speculation from both public and Tony that she was the reason for it. After their teenage years were spent with Bruce rhapsodising about Selina 'Cat' Kyle, about wanting to marry her when they managed to get the board to waive the stupid betrothal agreement, it didn't seem that unlikely to Tony. With Bruce's late nights and unexplained bruises, it had seemed even more likely. Finding out about Batman was a relief in Tony's mind, until he discovered that the woman often seen fighting Batman in a skintight literal catsuit was one and the same with the elegant figure that Selina cut at galas, often stealing Bruce away for ' just one dance, Tee, I swear' and returning him hours later with a coy wave and a vicious smile at Tony. 

"This can't come as a surprise, surely?" Bruce frowned. "You didn't have the decency to warn me about Pepper, I figured I didn't have to tell you about Selina."

"Sorry, did you just say I didn't warn you about Pepper?" Tony felt like he'd been slapped. "Is this about giving her the CEO title and not one of the kids? Because I was kind of dying, Bruce, and none of them were of age to become the CEO of a company. They'd be the ones of own it if I had passed, if you didn't want to absorb it into Wayne Enterprises but I made a decision to promote Pepper based on what I could work with at the time. She was my personal assistant when she was damn well trained to sit on the board, she was in the best position to takeover and know what I wanted for the company until one of the kids was ready."

Bruce regarded him strangely. "Are you still trying to deny that you are seeing her?"

"B, Pep is seeing Peter's Aunt May. Or maybe Happy." Tony looked to Peter who had hidden his head in his hands at the mention of Pepper and May. "Or was it both of them? Peter, help me out here?"

"I try to ignore it." Peter shook his head.

"You aren't seeing your personal assistant?" Bruce was now the one who looked as if he had been slapped.

"I don't even have a personal assistant anymore." Tony shook his head. "I have Jarvis and he's all I need."

"I was convinced... She was your date to the Maria Stark Foundation gala in spring?" Bruce frowned.

"Being my date doesn't mean that we're dating." Tony shook his head again. "Rhodey has been my date before and you know that we aren't dating."

"I want to go home." Damian announced.

"In a minute, Damian." Bruce sighed.

"Todd, please inform father that I was not speaking to him and I do not intend to speak to him." Damian huffed.

"I'm not an owl." Jason rolled his eyes.

Damian promptly stomped on Jason's foot.

"Bruce, your spawn wants me to inform you that he's not speaking to you." Jason hissed, hopping on the spot. "Damn kiddo, did you have to stand on me?"

Damian sniffed and ignored him. "Dad, I want to go home."

Tony didn't protest when their youngest stormed over to him and insisted that he be lifted up to rest on Tony's hip like some sort of monkey, clinging to him and childishly poking his tongue out at Bruce. He was thankfully small and light, no heavier than some of the tools Tony had to deal with in the lab when working on the suit.

"I'll have my people talk to yours and I'll let you know when the kids will be heading back to Gotham." Tony decided to be the adult in the room.

"We're staying with you until the gala." Tim spoke up.

Tony looked at all of his children who were nodding in agreement.

"All of you?" Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"Would have gone last night if one of those idiots had told me they were going." Steph responded, folding her arms.

Slowly but surely all of the kids swapped from standing with an equal distance between both parents to Tony's side of the room. He could see Peter just following Jason's lead and looking a little lost and figured that if he was subjecting one kid to a crash course in sibling drama, he should swing by Rose Hill and collect Harley at some point. The kid had met Bruce and the rest, he'd had little choice in the matter when Bruce had literally shown up on his doorstep, but he'd never spent longer than a few hours with all of them. He'd stayed with Tony for weeks during school holidays when siblings had rotated through Tony's doors, but he'd never had to put up with all of them at once. Plus, he hadn't met Peter yet.

"I can't believe that you've been hiding it from me." Dick shook his head and Tony realised that he might not be the only one in the room that wasn't aware of Bruce's current relationship status. "You've been giving me shit about making life changing decisions at work and wanting me to consult the family on it while you've been making life changing decisions of your own and not saying a thing to anyone else. That's not fair, B. I didn't even know that you were seeing Selina again, let alone making plans to divorce dad and marry her. This doesn't just affect you!"

" _Dick_ -"

"Don't _'Dick'_ me." Dick cut him off. "You've made your bed, it's time to lie in it. I know damn why you haven't told me shit and that's because you know that I'm not going to approve. You know that I'm the only one who knows what it was like to have you happy and together and you know how much I hated you for not just telling dad that you ran around dressed as a bat. And you know how much I'm going to hate you for ruining the last vestiges of my memories of you together. When you're separated I can just pretend that maybe, you know, one day both my parents will pull their heads out of their asses and sort out what went wrong and I don't have to worry about how much time I'm spending with one parent in case the other gets jealous, I don't have to be careful what I say when I visit because they're arguing again and probably don't want to hear about this fun thing that I did with the other one. I used to be jealous of Jay because he had no idea what it was like before, all he knew was trips to dad's for weekends and you two would argue if you were in the same room. You've done this knowing that it would upset me, upset dad and upset the rest of us and you haven't even considered the consequences. You'll have mapped out a full proposal for the board, items to give to the press, market projections and stock impact, but I can guarantee that you haven't factored in family reactions because we're just secondary. I wouldn't oppose you having a happy marriage if you didn't have to hurt the rest of us to get it, especially when you were trying to get Selina arrested just _last week_. Or was that just keeping up appearances because god-forbid your children knowing what's actually going on in your life?"

Bruce stared at Dick, stunned. In fact, the whole room stared at Dick, soon.

The outburst was uncharacteristic for him, usually he would be the last one with a smile on his face and trying to keep the peace no matter what the situation was. Now he was crying as he spoke, shoulders shaking and grossly unhappy. Both Tony and Bruce were in agreement in that moment; seeing Dick in such a state was wrong.

"Alright, Birdie?" Jason beat them to asking, drawing his brother in for a warm hug and glaring daggers over his shoulder at the two of them. And they both felt responsible, knowing that their separation did in fact have more of an impact on Dick than he ever let on.

"I just want to go home." Dick admitted, voice slightly muffled by Jason's shoulder.

"We can go and talk-"

"I'm talking about the tower." Dick cut Bruce off before leading his siblings from the room.

"Tony, please." Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. "Talk to him and call me later? I need to know he's okay?"

"He's not okay, father." Damian shook his head.

"I'll call." Tony agreed reluctantly. The last thing he wanted to do was speak to Bruce in that moment but he knew that he needed to consider everyone's feelings. Not doing that had potentially started this whole issue.

He carried Damian out, having to pass through the main area where their teams had congregated to get to the transport bay.

"Is everything alright?" Clark asked. "Dick ran through crying and the rest of the kids followed."

"Not really." Tony gave them a tight smile. "We just had some bad news from Bruce. I'm going to head home with the kids if you don't mind, they're all going to be staying with me. I'd love to stay and meet you all properly but my kids need me more right now."

"Of course, go." Diana nodded.

"Do you need-"

"No, Cap, stay." Tony cut Steve off before he could offer to leave too. "Meet everyone. Try and sort out an agreement so we don't have a repeat of today."

"Sure." Steve agreed easily. "Good luck."

 

 

Tony needed the luck, he decided once they arrived back at the tower after a brief stop over in Tennessee to pick up Harley who'd just shrugged and packed a bag with little protest.

The kids piled into the common room on Tony's floor, nobody discussing the events at the Watchtower until everyone was sat with snacks and blankets and determined expressions. But, judging by the fury on Harley's face, he'd been given the low down by one of them. Possibly Peter, as he was the one Harley had followed around and sat beside after their introduction had gone better than Tony could have hoped for.

"What have you lot plotted then?" Tony asked, knowing that they'd have come up with something while he'd been fetching Harley.

"You're not signing those papers." Steph announced. "None of us are thick, we all know that you're both still in love and too stubborn to do anything about it."

"Steph, kiddo, just going to remind you that he wants to divorce me and marry someone he's rhapsodised about since we were teenagers." Tony pointed out.

"You aren't denying your romantic inclinations." Damian pointed out.

"He can still be in love with you and unfortunately want to marry Selina." Steph argued. "Look at all of the romcoms."

"They made a romcom about you two, do you remember?" Jason snorted. "They weren't subtle about it either. What was it called?"

" _Lovers, Eternal_." Dick spoke up.

Jason grinned and pulled his phone out, finding the IMDb page in seconds. "Who could forget this plot; ' _two lovers, separated in marriage but still tied together by intwined lives, children and an inability to divorce cannot help but deny the connection they still share, no matter how many new lovers that come and go in their lives._ ' Oh, and the characters were literally called Ben Payne and Tommy Lark. Dick was Rich Grayling."

"We're watching it." Steph announced. "For inspiration. We're stopping that wedding, no matter the cost. And we're making you admit your feelings, Fair warning."

"I feel like I shouldn't be an accomplice to this." Tony's eyes widened but he knew that he was greatly outnumbered. If he tried to run now, every single one of his children in the room could stop him.

Jason grinned. "Jarvis, queue up _Lovers, Eternal_ and _Sweet Home Alabama_ , please." He requested. "But first, we're watching _The Parent Trap_."

Tony groaned and resigned himself to his fate. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> love and validation, yes? I need it to thrive and survive


	7. seven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays!   
> (Sorry this took a while.)

Once the films were watched and the kids shooed off to bed, Tony headed down to the lab. Dick had followed him wordlessly.

He'd been quiet since the first film began, providing no commentary like his siblings had been all too keen to give.

Tony knew not to push him, to let him talk when he wanted.

After about half an hour of Tony typing new lines of code and fiddling with Peter's Iron Spider suit, Dick migrated from the couch in the corner to sitting atop the nearest counter. Still he didn't speak, silently observing as Tony continued to work. They both ignored Tony's small falter in activity when he registered that Dick was moving.

"I didn't really think through what I was saying before." Dick admitted, finally speaking. "I just said it."

Tony stayed quiet, knowing Dick probably wasn't finished.

"I spent years hoping that you'd either sort your relationship out or just sign the papers and be done with each other." Dick sighed. "It was the small things, you know, that got my hopes up. The way that we still did Christmas together until Jay, the way you'd still attend Galas and charity events and dance together. I knew it was for the cameras, but at the same time I couldn't help but just hope. I'd come to yours and one of the first things you'd ask was how B was and I'd go back to the Manor and one of the first things _B_ would ask was how _you_ were. He went berserk when it was announced that you were missing in Afghanistan. When I found out that he didn't even call you when you got home, I called him an absolute idiot and a few other choice words and that's why he wouldn't let me come and see you until after the press conference where you announced that you were Iron Man."

"I was devastated when he didn't call." Tony admitted, remembering with a shudder. "I'd just gone through the worst experience of my life and it seemed like he didn't care. There were pictures of him splashed on the cover of every trashy magazine the day after I arrived back in the US, showing that he'd been at some party while I had been sat on my couch in Malibu with Pep and Rhodey trying to get me to talk while I waited for Bruce to call me."

"When Alfred told me that B had gone out, I thought he'd left me to be with you, that he wanted to see how bad any hidden injuries were before he let me see you." Dick confessed. "I barely slept that night and when I went down to find him hungover at the breakfast table, that was like a massive kick in the teeth. I was furious with him."

"We've never really had the deep heart to heart about what happened to me in that cave, have we?" Tony asked, already knowing the answer.

"I've never wanted to push." Dick responded. "I knew from little things that Harley has said about your crash landing and temporary stay in Rose Hill, and from my own stays with you that you've had PTSD and anxiety. And that just got worse after you joined the Avengers."

"I've started therapy, kiddo, I promise. I'm working through things." Tony winced. He knew it was something he'd never been able to hide from his kids and he was talking to one of the most perceptive of the bunch. Dick had a reputation for being a great detective, in both walks of his life, but even so, Tony had hoped against all hopes that his kids hadn't registered that he was suffering.

"Actual therapy and not just telling Doctor Banner while he drifts off on you?" Dick raised an eyebrow as he made the pointed comment.

"Scouts honour, I have a real therapist." Tony held up his hand and grinned fondly at Dick. "J approved, didn't you?"

"I will always approve when Sir actually does something to benefit either his physical or mental health." JARVIS intoned.

"And what does your real therapist say about your relationship with Bruce?" Dick sounded amused.

"She keeps making me talk about him and rolls her eyes at me when I try to deny still having feelings for him." Tony huffed.

"You _do_ still have feelings for him." Dick rolled his eyes.

"I have terrible taste in men." Tony groaned. "I'm going to be in love with a married man but he won't be _my_ husband anymore."

"Bruce can't force you to sign those papers." Dick pointed out.

"Bruce can threaten to take full custody of all of the kids under 18." Tony sighed. "He'd struggle in most cases but he's Damian's blood relative. I have no legal right to Damian."

"You think Bruce could stop Damian from coming here under his own power?" Dick scoffed.

"Bruce could then get me arrested for kidnapping." Tony countered.

"So you're just going to sign?" Dick sat back and folded his arms. "Let Silena walk into our lives, move into the manor that you should call home? Let her demand that Bruce finally has to clear out your old workshop and unlock your office for her to empty and fill with her own possessions? Take your role as our other parent?"

"It'll make Bruce happy." Tony sighed, defeated. "And that's all I can ask for."

"You've both been dealt a shit hand in life." Dick shocked him with his sudden words. "All of us in this family have, some worse than others. But we're a family. And that means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten."

"Alright, Stitch." Tony couldn't resist.

"That was intentional, I'll have you know." Dick laughed before turning serious again. "We're a family. Bruce asking you to sign a piece of paper could never change that. It'll never change the fact that we all love you, we all want you to be happy. And if Bruce's happiness comes at the cost of yours, we will not stand by and support it. I mean, I certainly won't allow my siblings to pursue some of their more harebrained attempts to keep you together, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stand by and watch you sign away your happiness if you sign that paper either."

"I don't want to throw a wrench in your relationship with B." Tony shook his head. "He'll be fuming that you all left with me today and I didn't even properly introduce him to Peter."

"He shouldn't have worn that fucking ring." Dick scowled. "And he should have told me. I'm not sure who else actually knew, but it wasn't for them to tell me. It was down to Bruce and he let me find out in the same way you found out. By a complete utter surprise."

"I'm going to have to call him soon." Tony cast an eye over to where the holographic display was showing the date and time. "I said I would and I've been delaying it all evening. He wanted to know that you were okay."

"Obviously I'm not okay." Dick scoffed. "And I'm not the only one he should be asking about their feelings."

"I still have to tell him though." Tony sighed. "Otherwise he'll be pissed I didn't call."

"I don't think I can be in the room while you call." Dick hopped down off the counter and gave him a brief hug. "I'm going to say goodnight and leave you to it."

"Night kiddo." Tony smiled. "I'll see you and the rabble tomorrow."

"Night dad." Dick returned his smile before heading out the door.

"J?" Tony sighed. "Do me a favour and call B?"

"Of course, Sir." Jarvis spoke mildly but somehow managed to convey disapproval. "Calling your husband."

Bruce answered before the second ring ended.

"Tony." Bruce sounded relieved.

"Bruce." Tony greeted cordially. "I promised to call, so; this is me, calling."

"I didn't think you would." Bruce huffed. "It's late."

"I was watching films with the kids and then I had a chat with our eldest." Tony defended himself. "I said I'd call."

"Sometimes you say you'll call and you don't." Bruce snarked.

"And usually, Bruce, I have a valid reason." Tony snapped. "Look, if you're just going to make snide comments and be bitchy, I-"

"I'm sorry." Bruce cut him off.

"What are we apologising for there, B?" Tony asked, knowing that it was a loaded question that could have several responses. He didn't know which one he wanted to hear.

"I'm tired after today." Bruce sounded tired. "I'm being a dick, I'm sorry."

"I can let you go to bed and I'll call tomorrow?" Tony offered. He didn't know if he wanted Bruce to take him up on it.

"No, Tee, I want to hear your voice." Bruce answered softly. A little piece of Tony melted, thrown back into memories of old times and romantic phonecalls when separated that only ever ended when they fell asleep.

"Okay." Tony didn't know what else to say.

"How's Dick?" Bruce asked.

"Do you really want me to answer that question?" Tony asked straight back.

"Just tell me, even if I won't like the answer." Bruce's tiredness made a reappearance in his voice.

"He's devastated." Tony winced as he said it. "We had a bit of a chat about past, present and future and he's not happy, Bee. Our baby is upset and we don't have a viable way of fixing it."

"There's no way to fix it?" Bruce sounded as close to horrified as Bruce could get.

Tony thought for a moment and decided not to say 'well you could end your engagement, fall out of love with Silena, withdraw the divorce papers you plan to file, the two of us reconcile and we live as one big happy family' since he didn't think that it would go down too well. He considered for a moment. "I can't think of a realistic way," he chose to say instead.

"And what about unrealistic?" Bruce asked, instantly picking up on Tony's choice of words.

"You don't, or won't, want to hear it." Tony answered hastily.

"Try me." Bruce challenged.

"Bee, our kids are devastated that we're separated. And they're devastated that soon it's going to be a new type of permanent." Tony sighed. "You tell me what unrealistic thing they want to happen that would make them happy."

"Oh." Bruce was barely audible.

"Does Dick ever talk to you about how much it has impacted him?" Tony asked, sort of wishing that he could see Bruce's face to judge his emotions right now. Bruce tried to hide everything behind a mask, but Tony had known him long enough to know what each little micro-expression was, knew him well enough to know what exactly he was trying to hide. He couldn't judge anything but Bruce's tone of voice over the phone.

"Does he tell you anything?" Bruce countered, just to be awkward.

"We just had a bit of a heart to heart." Tony confessed. "For the second night in a row. Have you actually been paying for his therapy or has it been a department mandated thing by Gordon?"

"No, he doesn't talk to me." Bruce sounded almost hurt. "I think he'll think I'll just brush it off or overreact."

"I wonder why." Tony couldn't help but comment dryly.

"Tony." Bruce huffed.

"You're the one who said it." Tony argued. He could never help going on the defence, especially when he was defending one of his children. "He came over because he was upset about the way you reacted to the news about his promotion. For the love of Thor, Loki and whatever other gods come crawling out of wormholes on the worst occasions, why can't you just be happy for him when he's happy about something?"

"I can't excuse my actions by saying I was having a bad day, but I genuinely was having a bad day." Bruce grumbled, as if he was embarrassed that Tony had called him out. "I worry about him. He's restricted in his day job. He can't do anything that would give away that he moonlights as Nightwing, or that he's worked on his acrobatic skills after the circus."

"Everybody knows we sent him to gymnastics." Tony rolled his eyes.

"No, _you_ sent him to gymnastics." Bruce huffed. "I didn't want to."

"Well he wanted to go." Tony retorted. "And I know now that you didn't want him going because you didn't want to risk Robin's identity."

"Tee, I didn't want you to call so we could argue." Bruce sighed. "I wanted to make sure that Dick was okay, that the rest of the kids were okay, and to see if you were okay."

Tony couldn't help the hollow laugh that escaped him. "Bee, you didn't even give me a warning that you were about to turn my life upside-down." He glanced down at his own ring, removed before the battle but replaced when they returned. The kids hated it when he didn't wear it. "Dick didn't know either and it certainly wasn't Damian's place to have to tell me that you were stopping at nothing to get a divorce this time because you were engaged to someone else."

"I was going to tell you." Bruce's voice was quiet, breaking the several long beats of silence. "I wasn't expecting you to turn up for the fight, let alone come to the headquarters afterwards."

"We've got a week until the gala." Tony pointed out.

"I know." Bruce acknowledged.

"When were you going to tell me, ten minutes before I arrived at the venue?" Tony couldn't help but make a dig.

"Tony, no." Bruce sounded tired. "Look, I don't want to do this over the phone."

"You were going to do it via an email from your PA to my PR people." Tony assumed. "Doing this over the phone is-"

"For fucksake Tony, I wasn't going to get my PA to email your PR team." Bruce cut him off. "Please. I want to see you, so we can talk about this."

Tony made a split decision. "When?"

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I just want love and validation, please


End file.
